Welcome to week six of quarantine. At this point, you’ve watched all of Netflix and eaten all the snacks in your house. What do you do now? What’s left to do? 

Many people have been resorting to podcasts. A podcast is a digital audio file, and can be listened to while doing anything. 

Something I’ve enjoyed about podcasts is there are a variety of genres. From fiction and nonfiction, political and lifestyle, theatre and news, the list goes on, but there seems to be a podcast addressing everything. 

One podcast I’ve begun listening to is titled Crossfire (available on Spotify). Daily Telegraph Editor and Journalist Ben Riley-Smith takes us through the investigation of the 2016 Trump-Russia scandal, but showing the untold story of Britain’s role. He illustrates this with his research and interviews with those who saw it firsthand. 

As a journalist, it’s eye-opening to see how fellow journalists are using the different outlets accessible to us. It also inspires me to not be afraid to use the different outlets, and maybe create a podcast of my own. 

Lots of people see podcasts (myself included) as a form of distraction. For thirty minutes, we’re able to take our minds off this stressful pandemic and focus on something else. 

However, podcasts are also being created for the exact same reason. People, especially teens, are creating podcasts. Recently, teens are creating their own podcasts to talk. About what? Anything! It’s a way for them to share their thoughts and feelings, and essentially converse with people. 

During this quarantine, podcasting has gained popularity, not only with listeners but also creators. I appreciate podcasts as a news source, but also has a source of entertainment, especially when we’re all cooped up in our houses. I hope they stay as relevant as they are now.